The Courtship of Severus Snape
by Adara's Rose
Summary: When Severus is revealed as omega his life is turned upside down. With suitors crawling out of the woodwork, an unknown admirer writing passionate poetry and sending rare books, one would think he had enough to deal with already. Except there is also Sirius Black. And Lily? Well, she is no help whatsoever. Heavy on the Lily/Severus friendship.
1. Chapter 1

The fifth year Hogwarts students were in a bit of a state that crisp Valentine's Day morning, whispering and jostling amongst themselves as they crowded into the potions classroom. It was the only potion lesson their entire time at Hogwarts in which every single student in their year would be mandated to attend, Slytherins and Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws and Gryffindors all together. The only excuse that might _possibly_ be accepted was an acute onset of death. Then again, they might just revive you to make you attend.

Professor Slughorn leaned against his desk and crossed his arms. He was wearing a rattier robe than usual, anticipating more trouble than he normally had. After all, he was dealing with nearly triple the amount of students that usually attend his classes. He looked out over the hall with barely restrained amusement as he watched them fight amongst themselves in getting seats at the first row benches. Even Black and Lupin, fifth-year Gryffindors who usually skulked in the back, were seated at a second row table and watching him with barely concealed trepidation. The professor waited until the tension in the room became so thick you could cut it with a knife before he spoke.

"There comes a time" he began and immediately the chatter died down to a level where, were Slughorn to stop speaking, you would have been able to hear a pin drop. "In every young witch or wizard's life, where a most important part of their identity is revealed." He made a dramatic pause, watching with satisfaction as every pair of eyes in the room seemed transfixed on him. "I am speaking of course, of the day of revelation, which for you are today. Today, you will find whether you are biologically alpha, beta or omega." There was again a titter of eagerness and excitement amongst the teens and Slughorn adjusted his lazy stance, waiting patiently till it mostly died down.

"As you are no doubt aware" he finally went on with a faked bored note in his voice, "the biological class is these days a minor part of the wizarding community. The omega auctions, for example, have been outlawed since 1683. I trust you have learnt all about it from professor Binns." There were nods and confirming mumbles. A few of them grimaced at the mere mention of their History teacher's name. "So for the lucky few of you who will on this day be revealed as omega, you have a courtship to look forward to. May the best alpha win and all that." Slughorn himself was a beta, like about eighty-five percent of the population of wizarding england, so he had never cared much either way.

"Alright" he said, figuring it was about time before one of the youths in front of him had an aneurysm from sheer nerves, "let's get started, shall we?"

Lily Evans brushed a strand of vivid red hair away from her face as she looked down at the cauldron in front of her. She nervously smoothed down her slightly damp Ravenclaw robe (she had spilt water on herself when filling the cauldron from the tap) and tried not to fidget. If she as much as breathed in the direction of the ladle before the potion was finished, her potions partner Severus Snape was going to have her head. Instead, Lily looked down at the potion bubbling slowly and felt sick to her stomach. This potion would, after she had added three drops of her own fresh blood, identify her biological class. This was not to be confused with biological sex; Lily had known she was female since she was a little girl. However, she was now fifteen and did not know what her class was. Unlike muggle children, who could reveal anytime between the ages of twelve and twenty, wizarding children were put under very specific spells to protect them. These spells would be broken by the potion she had just brewed as soon as the youth in question had turned fifteen years old, an age that the wizarding world considered mature for courtship. It had been both a relief and a bother to her ever since she was eleven and her older sister Petunia presented as a beta. She had been dying to know her own class since then, but having been put under the spell her first day at Hogwarts that been impossible. She looked over at Severus with anxious green eyes. He seemed as calm as a cucumber, washing up the last of the tools they had used. He was not a good looking boy by any means, but she liked his intense dark eyes and sardonic sense of humor. There had never in her whole life been anyone who could make her laugh until she snorted milk out of her nose. No one until she met Severus. His dark hair that had an unfortunate tendency to always be slightly greasy was hanging down around his face, looking in desperate need of a cut, and his long-fingered hands worked swiftly and efficiently.

"What do you think you'll be?" She finally asked when he didn't seem to be interested in starting any sort of conversation. He had been unusually surly lately, and she was getting rather fed up with it. Whatever it was that had crawled up his arse and died, she was _so_ over it.

"I don't know" he said in a dour tone as he rinsed the cutting knife one last time, put it back in its plain leather sheath and put it on the ingredient tray, ready to be brought back to the storage room. "Never thought about it. Beta, I suppose." That was all she got out of him, so instead Lily placed two small glasses on their desk and ladled the potion into them. There was just enough to fill the glasses, one dose for each of them. They would have to add three drops of their blood, report the colour that the currently pale yellow potion turned, and then drink it to affirm the revelation. Red for alpha, blue for beta, green for omega. Lily hoped hers would turn blue, since there were restrictions on both alphas and omegas. Such as the fact that they could only have children in that combination - an alpha was only able to impregnate an omega, the omega only able to become pregnant from an alpha. She didn't want _that_ additional headache when looking for a decent guy.

"Ready?" Severus asked, holding out a small, ornate knife to her. It was the kind of knife that in the wizarding world was called a 'blood letter', and usually a witch had her own that she did not share with anyone. But Lily always shared everything with Severus, had since they started school, so to her it was natural to also share the blood letter. It was _theirs,_ not hers or his. She hoped that it would always be like that, no matter what life brought them or what happened. That they would be _they_ , Lily-and-Severus, not Lily and Severus.

"Ready" she confirmed as she accepted the blood letter. She ran it across her palm, like Slughorn had instructed, and watched her blood immediately come to the surface. It didn't hurt; the blood letter was a magical knife that cause no pain when it was used. That was the danger of it; you could cut too deeply without realising it. That was why you usually did not share the blood letter - it could be keyed to its owner, ensuring that it did not draw too much. Holding the now bloody knife over her glass, she watched as three brilliant drops of red fell into the sickly yellow liquid. Then she put the blood letter aside to be cleaned. She waited. So did Severus. They both stared intently at the potion as the cut on Lily's hand sealed itself, thanks to the magic of the blade that had caused it.

Lily breathed a sigh of relief when it turned a bright blue.

"Beta" she said triumphantly, as she raised the glass in a sort of toast. "Cheers!" she added, giddy with relief, as she drained it. It tasted like stale salt water, but she drank it down anyway. It felt like her stomach was full of fizzy cider that spread into every part of her body. A part of her she hadn't been aware was sleeping was waking up. She snorted with laughter as it felt like she was tickled just underneath her skin. Then she turned to Severus, who had cleaned the blood letter while she experienced the effects of her biological class shaping her magic into the witch Lily knew she was meant to be.

"Your turn" she said, still feeling giddy from the feeling. He made an unhappy face that made his already grim features look even worse, but she was used to that face and it didn't faze her at all. "Go on!" she encouraged, "might as well get it over with." He grumbled something unintelligible, but then let the blood letter slide across his palm. His blood shone in the candle light as he let the three drops of blood fall into the glass. Lily leaned forward, pulling her red hair away from her face, looking eagerly into the glass.

"It'll turn blue" she said confidently. "I just know it. Look, it's changing colour!"

But then her confidence turned to shock lightly mixed with alarm as the colors kept changing; it had at first appeared blue, but it kept deepening and twisting until it settled on a vivid, brilliant green.

"Omega" Lily breathed, and though her spoke softly, it was as if her voice cut through the room like a blood letter through flesh. Every head turned to look at her and Severus, who still stared at the potion with a look of dread on his face.

"Congratulations, Mr Snape!" Slughorn cried in delight, "An omega! And by the shade of your potion - a _hyper fertile_ one!"

Lily did not join in his delight. Neither did Severus. In fact, he looked more like a man that had just been informed that he was to be hanged at dawn.

Lily patted his freshly healed hand consolingly.

"It'll be okay" she said, but even to her own ears it sounded forced.


	2. Chapter 2

Mrs Eileen Snape sat in an elegant, high-backed chair in Headmaster Dumbledore's office and tried to make sense of a world that had just turned off kilter. Her son, her baby boy, had presented as an omega. Never in her wildest dreams had she thought that possible; there had not been an omega in her family since her great grandfather thrice removed. Or was it his father? She couldn't remember, and it didn't matter anyways. Severus sat in the chair next to hers, scowling like he had just been informed that he was going to have to resit his OWLs. Not that he had taken his OWLs yet, but that was the distinct impression his surly silence gave.

Dumbledore's eyes hadn't lost an ounce of their usual twinkle as he looked at the witch in her outdated, worn robes. He assumend they were n old pair from before she had married her muggle husband, since the style was one he remebered very fondly. His husband had looked stunning in it on their ten-year anniversary celebration. Eileen Snape née Prince hasd dark hair that was already greying, and lines in her face that were not from laughter. Life had not been kind to her, nor was it cvery kind to her son, who shared his mother's intense dark eyes and the unfortunate tendency to have constantly greasy hair.

Dumbledore looked at the young omega in question. Severus was sitting in his other guest chair, arms crossed and glaring at the floor as if he was trying to make a hole in it by will alone. In the five days since his revelation, his hormones had started working overtime to make up for the lost years, and the alpha in Dumbledore could not deny that the smell of ripe, unmated omega was rather exciting. But since he was also mated, that excitement mostly made him cross that his own darkly radiant omega was away on his yearly retreat for another two days. What he wouldn't give to spend a few hours in his husband's bed… But that was neither here nor there. This was about the boy.

"I expect it won't be long before you start receiving courtship gifts" Dumbledore said as he poured himself some tea from the ornate silver pot. "Ginger cake?" he offered Eileen who shook her head. Her stomach was too done up in knots for her to eat anything, much less a decadent cake.

"Mr Dumbledore-" she finally said when she conceded that Severus would most likely prefer to have his teeth pulled to say anything.

"Please, call me Albus" Dumbledore interrupted and she gave a curt nod.

"Albus. I am afraid I do not know much about what presenting as omega entails. Being a beta myself, I never paid much attention and since marrying my husband, well…" she didn't want to say that Tobias tended to have conniptions whenever anything even remotely connected to the wizarding world came up in conversation at home.

Dumbledore shot her a sympathetic look.

"Well, first and foremost we need to get Severus on repressants. His body, coming awake and becoming ready for mating, is already starting to produce what we refer to as the omega hormone. This basically means that he will be irresistible to any alpha in his vicinity and in a school with teenage alphas, well." He didn't finish his sentence, but Eileen heard the implications loud and clear. Teenage alphas, who themselves were awakening to their true natures, might not be able to stop themselves even if the omega they were after was unwilling. It could end very, very badly for Severus.

"Of course we have the alphas on repressants as well" Albus said placatingly, "but there is always a risk. Some alphas are not at scrupulous as we would like them to be." He helped himself to more of the delicious ginger cake. It was made just the way he liked it, and so far he'd had two slices.

Eileen looked down at Albus hand, where a thin gold band showed him to be married.

"What class are you, headmaster?" She asked, without really knowing why she was asking. Albus smiled at her, and it felt a bit like when she was little and her mother brought her to see Santa Claus in town.

"I am alpha, Mrs Snape. Don't worry, I have been happily mated for nearly thirty years." He chortled to himself, "caused quite a scandal in my time."

"Oh? How come?" She looked at him, curious.

"As it turns out, the suppressants don't work on anyone with creature blood" he said, amused. "And my mate is what is known as a tri-omega: he is the perfect match to two alphas. His other husband, also an alpha, is a werewolf. That would have been alright if it weren't for the fact that he - my omega - was fourteen at the time and I was his teacher." He had long since ceased to be embarrassed at the whole thing and just felt happy at the blessing he had received in his two loves. For he loved not only his dark, luscious omega but his fellow alpha as well. They made an odd trio, true, but one that made sense in the most wonderful of ways. But before he could sink into daydreams of what he could expect to happen when Tom got back from his retreat, he focused the attention back on the young omega who was now staring at the teapot as if willing it to explode.

"Dear Severus here has as of this morning been given his first dose, and will be taking the suppressants weekly until he finds an alpha that he deems suitable. This is done through a courtship, which then leads to a meeting if Severus finds the alpha a suitable contender for his hand. At this meeting, if the two are compatible, they will feel the urge to bond even though they will both be on suppressants. The bond will not allow itself to be averted if they are compatible."

Eileen's head was swimming with information, but she held onto the bit that was most important to her.

"He will be courted?" she asked, nervously.

"Yes. Expect fine gifts reasonably soon. At this point all the students who have presented have been registered at the ministry, both with their status and the expected level of said status. Severus' potion turned a very vivid emerald, suggesting that he will very easily become pregnant with his mate. He will be highly sought after, even if... " Dumbledore stopped hiself just in time. It wouldn't do to insult the delicious-smelling omega's looks. Or lack of them.

Eileen turned to her son in an attempt to cheer him up.

"You can have them jump through hoops, honey" she said. "Wouldn't that be fun?"

Severus rolled his dark eyes at her but remained stubbornly silent. Eileen sighed deeply and finally accepted a piece of the scrumptious looking ginger cake.

It proved to be every bit as delicious as it looked.

* * *

The first courtship gift appeared the following morning. It arrived with rather a lot of pomp and circumstance in the middle of breakfast, carried by two large, elegant tawny owls. Severus sank into his chair, wanting nothing more than to disappear as the snickers of his housemates made his ears burn bright red from embarrassment, but the owls would not be deterred and kept hooting until he had accepted the parcel.

Having fled the great hall for the relative security of his dorm room, he discovered the newly acquired gift to be an elegant ornate purple robe. It was enhanced with gold embroidery that clashed dreadfully with his sallow skin and made him feel like a sickly peacock when he looked himself in the mirror. Lily, when she saw him in it later that day, had no qualms about erupting into slightly hysterical laughter after having taken one look at the blasted thing.

"You look like a peacock!" She shrieked, mimicking his thoughts exactly. "A molting peacock!"

"Thanks" he grumbled as he ripped it off and threw it to the floor like where it lay in a rejected heap, looking rather like he felt at the moment. Honestly, what use did he have of a robe like that? And purple, too! He looked terrible in purple.

The second, third and fourth courtship gifts - all from different alphas - didn't prove much better. Fancy clothes that he wouldn't be caught dead in a ditch wearing, all of them. He sent them to Madam Malkin's for resale.

* * *

But on the tenth day after he had presented as an omega, something changed. He had spent most of the day avoiding Black and Potter like the plague (Black had presented as alpha and apparently his mother was most insistent that he put a baby in Severus as soon as possible, preferably yesterday), and was so fed up with everything he wished he had never been born. Not even Lily could cheer him up, even though she tried rather desperately. She couldn't know that part of his foul mood stemmed from the reluctant acceptance that there was no chance of her ever wanting to marry him now. Like the rest of the world, she was expecting him to marry one of the moronic alphas vying for his hand. As if he wanted some prat who clearly hadn't done their research on him at all.

He threw himself onto his bed, ready for a good sulk, when he saw it. Lying on his bedside table was an elegantly wrapped gift, rather on the small side. The wrapping paper was a dark grey, so dark it almost appeared black at first glance, and it was topped with an elegant purple bow. Attached to the gift was a scroll, and before allowing himself to tear off the paper to see what was inside he unrolled the parchment. He admired the elegant hand for a moment before reading the brief missive.

 _Severus,_

 _I am not a man of words._ _' Therefore, since brevity is the soul of wit,_ _And tediousness the limbs and outward flourishes,_ _I will be brief. '_

 _Please accept this gift that I hope will prove of great use to you in your further studies._ _I wish also to let you know that the most appealing part of you is, in my admiring eyes, your keen intelligence._

 _L._

Severus smirked a the clever use of the Shakespeare quote, before returning his attention to the gift. Hands shaking, he ripped off the paper and the bow and stared at the book that lay revealed before him. One hundred poisons and how to brew them the cover stated, the words embossed with gold on smooth black leather. It was a very, very rare book that he had barely dared to dream of someday maybe getting to read. And here it was; his own copy.

Trembling with excitement, he opened it up and began to read.


	3. Chapter 3

Lily had to poke Severus in the ribs several times before she managed to get his attention, and when she finally did she rolled her eyes at him in exasperation.

"I swear" she said as she pulled a few strands of red hair back and tucked them behind her ear,, "whoever it is that keeps sending you books is getting on my nerves. Your head's in the clouds, Sev." Severus flushed with embarrassment as he put his latest gift from L - _The healing plants of indochina_ \- back into his book bag.

"Sorry, Lils" he said as he fiddled with the strap, using the old nickname that always got him back into her good graces when she was cross with him. "But they are so fascinating!"

"You and your potions" she said, rolling her eyes at him. Then she plopped down on the stone bench where he sat, stretching out her long legs. They were outside, taking advantage of the early spring sun and pretending it wasn't freezing. It was spring, after all. A few other students had also decided to pretend that sunshine equalled warmth and were sitting or walking in various parts of the open area just north of the castle. It's name was 'the North Garden', but the students all referred to it as 'the hooky field', as in you went there to play hooky.

"Did you hear that Frank Longbottom presented himself as suitor to Alice Greengrass and she accepted him?" Lily asked as she stretched out her long, tights-covered legs and turned her face up towards the early march sun.

"No" Severus said as he fidgeted a bit more with the strap on his bag, wanting her to go away so he could read in peace. "But he has been giving her flowers every day since she presented so I'm not surprised." Frank was a seventh year alpha whose crush on the pretty miss Greengrass had been legendary since he took her to the yule ball her third year. It was no surprise to anyone that they were to be married.

"Have you figured out who L is yet?" Lily asked as she poked him in the ribs again.

"No. And ow! Stop that!" He protested. "It clearly isn't you, you'd never be able to afford these books."

"I don't _want_ to stop" she replied reasonably but stopped anyway. "And how do you know that I don't have a gigantic fortune tucked away somewhere?"

"Well, I don't obviously, but I was there when you presented as beta so for that reason at least I can eliminate you."

"It might be Lockhart" she offered and snickered at his expression. Severus looked at the stunning blonde holding court on the other side of the field.

"I'd rather hug the giant squid" he muttered as he rolled his eyes. Lily snickered even more at that, her green eyes gleaming with mirth.

"What do you have against Lockhart? He is an alpha. And rich. And handsome." That much was true, considering the beta witches swooning around him.

"And a complete and utter idiot. I swear what few brain cells he has are too busy keeping each other warm in the giant cavity that is his brain to perform any higher functions." Well, that was unusually acerbic even for him, Lily thought as she snorted. Then she forced herself to sober up; since she didn't feel like a battle of wits after having sat through two hours of history with Binns, she didn't comment. She'd end up losing anyway. She always did.

"Alright" she said when she grew tired of his fidgeting and unspoken request for her to sod off, "who do you _want_ it to be, then? If you got to choose?"

Severus stilled. His brow furrowed in thought.

"I… don't know" he finally ventured, "I… hadn't thought of it."

"Well, think of it then." She encouraged. "After all, we are talking about a presumptive husband, here."

"Or wife" he said. Lily rolled her eyes.

"Or wife" she conceded, although she highly doubted that he'd find an alpha wife that he wouldn't hate at first sight. Then again, her only basis for that assumption was the alpha females at Hogwarts. However, since Severus' opinion of pretty much all their fellow students except her and possibly Narcissa Black was lower than Germany's GDP after the first world war, perhaps she was being a bit hasty in drawing her conclusion. Maybe whoever it was that kept sending expensive books and quoting Shakespeare at Severus was a woman. Time would tell.

"Which sonnet accompanied the book?" She asked, curious. To her delight, she got to see Severus blush almost as red as her hair as he - with some reluctance - handed her a scroll. She unrolled it, admired the fine writing briefly, then stood up and started to declare in a loud, dramatic voice:

" _Lord of my love, to whom in vassalage, thy merit hath-"_ Severus groaned, buried his face in his hands, and wished fervently for a sudden bolt of lightning to appear in the cloudless sky and strike the blasted girl. It was the only way, he reasoned, to make her shut up.

* * *

If Severus thought his late march tuesday had been shitty before what with oversleeping, missing breakfast, and having classes with _both_ Binns and McGonagall in the morning, he was proven wrong around lunch time. That was when Black cornered him in the fourth hallway as he was leaving class, hurrying ahead in the hopes of having time to have another look at a very interesting potion recipe in the latest book from L - _breathing under water and other miracle brews_.

"Look, Sniv- Snape. I need to talk to you." Severus looked at him like he was something particularly unpleasant he'd just scraped of the bottom of his shoe, but that didn't deter Black for a moment. Severus tried one of his most scatching glares instead, but even though Black flinched and his normally tanned face turned pale he didn't budge. Severus sighed deeply.

"Fine" he groaned. "Get it over with."

"Look, my parents are on me like hungry hippogriffs on a steak about me courting you, but neither of us are into the idea, are we?"

"That's putting it mildly" Severus said sardonically. "Frankly, I would rather _be_ a steak being set upon by hungry hippogriffs than even considering you as a potential husband." Black looked relieved, as if he hadn't heard the implied insult or simply ignored it. Most likely, Severus thought snidely, he was too stupid to understand it. Instead, Black seemed to ignore all hints that Severus wanted to leave and kept talking.

"However, during this past winter break, while I was dodging my parents and pretending to be deaf whenever they started talking about how Prince is a good family and fresh blood and all that bullshit, I had plenty of time to think about _why_ I don't want to marry you." _And here it comes,_ Severus thought, _the usual insults and mockery of every single thing about my person that he can think of on the top of his head. Alright, Snape, grin and bear it. And hex the asshole later._

"And I've come to realise" Black went on, completely oblivious, "that it's because… well, you deserve better than me." Wait, _what?_ Severus could not have been more startled if Lily had whacked him over the head with her bag. Which she had done once in third year when she thought he was being an ass. To be fair, he _had_ been acting like a complete tool at the time.

"Come again?" He squeaked and cursed himself for not keeping his voice steady. Black looked at him with earnest blue eyes that made him look more like an overgrown puppy wanting to play than the rabid mongrel he usually reminded Severus of.

"I'm not blind to my faults, Snape. I tend to talk before I think and most of the time what comes out of my mouth is so damn vile it makes me want to wash out my own mouth with soap like mum used to when I was little. I did a lot of soul searching during the holidays and I've realised that the guy I am right now is an asshole. And if I continue along these lines I'm going to end up a worse bully than my dad. I don't want that." Severus blinked at him, every word out of Black's mouth only making him feel more bewildered. He was beginning to understand what Alice must have felt when she fell down the rabbit hole, because in no sane world could this be happening.

"So" Black said as he seemed to have finished his little speech. Severus wondered how long he had rehearsed it. He looked as if he steeled himself before holding out his hand to Severus, offering a handshake.

"I would like to bury the hatchet, Snape. And offer a sincere apology for being a jerk. I know we'll most likely never be friends, but I would like to stop being enemies." Severus looked at the outstretched hand suspiciously.

"How come you waited four months?" He demanded, ignoring it for now. Black didn't take it down, instead he looked Severus with those earnest eyes.

"I… to be honest, I didn't dare approach you until I figured out something to say that wouldn't end with you trying to push me down the stairs." Black, the haughty Gryffindor, _scared_? Of _him?_ You could have knocked Severus over with a feather. Then, curse his mother's 'try to make friends'-influence, he found himself shaking Black's hand.

"Consider the hatchet buried, Black" he said, and found to his own shock that he meant it. It was too exhausting to keep up this ridiculous rivalry in between avoiding horny alpha schoolmates thinking he was an easy lay, his studies, spending time with Lily and trying to figure out the identity of the mysterious L.

However, all those worries went out the window when his skin touched Black's. There was something like a jolt of energy passing between them, and Severus found himself overcome with the urge to throw himself in Black's arms and give him a great big hug. The horror of it made him reel long enough for Black to act on his own instinct, which was apparently to wrap his arms around Severus like a bloody octopus and bury his face in the nape of the Slytherin boy's neck, breathing deeply. It was an act that Severus had often seen other people do, usually followed by pretty heavy kissing, but… there was no lust or want in this embrace. It felt like… it felt like an older brother, offering comfort. Or at least what he expected an older brother offering comfort would feel like. It was disconcerting to say the least. But what was even more disconcerting than the embrace itself was that he enjoyed it, practically collapsing against Black's admittedly very firm chest and feeling… secure. Protected.

"Let me go, Black" he said, trying for stern but only ending up sounding pleading.

"Don't want to" Black said somewhere into his skin. "You're tense. I don't like it. Something is bothering you."

There was a squeal from somewhere in the vicinity and Severus looked up to see one of the Hufflepuff girls - he didn't remember her name of the top of his head - staring at them with the look of wide-eyed delight he usually interpreted as his cue to head to the other side of the school as fast as humanly possible.

Just great. He bet himself a sickle that the entire school would be gossiping about his and Black's torrid romance before dinner.


	4. Chapter 4

Severus mentally handed himself a sickle at a little after four that afternoon when a decidedly pissed off Lily cornered him in his favourite alcove in the library. She stood over him scowling, hands on her hips. The look in her bright green eyes promised bloody retribution.

"Look, Lily-" he began, hoping desperately that she wouldn't make a scene. There was enough talk as it was. The entire school was alight with the rumour that Sirius Black had declared his undying love to Severus Snape in the hallway before what at this point was half the student body, if you believed the 'witnesses'.

"Please explain to me" she hissed in a voice he had heard her use before but never with him. It usually meant that she was about to hit whoever she was aiming it at with a bat bogey hex. "Why I had to find out from _Theresa McFadden_ that you and Sirius Black are getting married."

"Oh" Severus said mildly impressed at the acceleration, "are we getting married now? Last I heard, I was pregnant. With twins. One of each, apparently." Lily scowled, clearly not finding the situation at all amusing.

"What. Did. You. Do?" She demanded in a low growl. Now _that_ sounded more like his Lily. Severus sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Calm down and sit down, and I'll tell you" he said, and with one last glare she did as she was told. And as he explained what had taken place with Black in the corridor, and what he had said and what Severus had said, her frown smoothed and her eyebrows went up until she settled for looking partly surprised, partly amused.

"Only you" was her sole remark once he'd finished. Then she cocked her head to the side inquisitively.

"How do you _get_ yourself into this sort of situations?" She mused, more to the air than to him.

"If I knew, I wouldn't be." He grumbled. "I still don't know what the hell happened."

"Oh, that's easy. He's your platonic alpha. I read about it in the Quibbler."

"My what?"

"Your platonic alpha. Here" she dug around in her bag, found the paper, and placed it on the table. She riffled through the pages until she seemed to find what she was looking for: ' _Alpha, Beta or Omega? A guide to biological class for the newly-presented youth'_ _by Aloysius Lovegood._

"Lovegood?" Severus asked. "Isn't he that hufflepuff bloke that acts as if he's permanently high?"

"That's the one" Lily confirmed distractedly as she searched the article for the part she was interested in, "Xenophilius. Nice guy once you get him to sit down long enough to have a conversation. Bit weird, but just roll with the punches I say." She made a noise of triumph as she found what she wanted.

"Aha! Here it is: _rarely does it happen that a newly-presented omega, in addition to their alpha mate, has a second or even two second alphas that instinctively care for the omega's safety and comfort. These alphas have no romantic or sexual bond to the omega, but act more as older siblings or protectors. It is assumed that only the most powerful of omegas require additional protectors in the form of what is commonly referred to as a platonic alpha._ " She looked up, a smug look on her face that quickly turned to hilarity as she looked at something behind him. He didn't have to look to have a pretty good idea what that was.

"Yes, Black?" he said, exasperated. The next moment he found an apple placed in front of him.

"You didn't eat much at lunch" the Gryffindor said, sounding honestly worried. "You're going to make yourself sick." Lily clamped her hand over her mouth to restrain her giggles at the concerned look on Black's face. Severus rolled his eyes.

"Thanks Black. Now may we please study in peace?"

"Yeah, sure" Black - no, Sirius, he might as well call him that at least in his head - said and shrugged. "Catch you later Severus." Severus flopped forward over the table, burying his face in his arithmancy textbook with a long-suffering groan,

"Shut up Evans" he muttered into the page as Lily stopped trying to restrain her mirth and burst out laughing.

She ignored him.

* * *

A few evenings later, many miles away from Hogwarts in a fancy flat in London's Earl's Court, Lucius Malfoy leaned back in his study chair and scowled at the ornamental ceiling, grey eyes flashing with temper. It was the main selling point and what had caught his interest when he had bought the place. It was the perfect bachelor pad, eight rooms, three bathrooms and a large kitchen, and he loved his little home away from home. But lately he had been feeling lonely, and thinking more and more of the youth with the intense black eyes that had held him entranced his entire seventh year at Hogwarts. It was more dumb luck than anything else that had seen him through his NEWTs, not that he would ever let on before his friends or acquaintances. Once more, his thoughts slipped away to nestle close to the youth. What was he doing now? Was it true what they said about him and that Black? No, it couldn't be. His source had informed him that Severus had received his courting gifts with great pleasure, and surely he was not so callous as to lead a suitor on when he had already chosen who to mate with. No, it simply could not be so. He refused to believe it. But it was rather hard to ignore the talk. His source had, in their last letter, listed every single rumour they had heard about Severus and… Black, each one more outrageous than the last.

Lucius' blood boiled with indignation at the thought of those inbred mongrels gossiping about his beautiful Omega. True, he had not made an official offer to Severus yet, but he would soon. He refused to let his confidence in Severus' acceptance be shaken. However, there was a frisson of doubt in his soul that would not let itself be ignored and it was with a trembling hand he reached for his quill. His writing was not as elegant as usual when he pinned his short letter, signed it with his initial, and sent his owl off to deliver it to his source, who would ensure it got to it's recipient without any trace of how it had been delivered.

In two days time, he would have his answer.

* * *

It was late as Severus finally stumbled into his dorm, absolutely knackered. It had been hours before he had managed to escape the card game with Potter, Lupin and Pettigrew that Bl- that Sirius had dragged him off to after dinner, insisting he 'needed to socialize more', and he was practically dead on his feet. The other boys had been rather cautious at first, but once Severus was through fleecing Potter of all he was worth the other two boys warmed considerably. They had almost been… dare he say it… friendly towards him. Clearly, the age of wonders was not yet at an end. Thankfully, Potter and Pettigrew were both betas so his instincts to consider possible mating potential had shut up all evening. Lupin, who Severus had suspected to be a werewolf for the past year, had not been in class to make the potion. Potter had claimed that it was because Lupin was allergic to aconite, which still had Severus rolling his eyes. More allergic to the silver cauldron, if you asked him.

He threw himself onto his bed with a groan, ignoring momentarily the coins clinking in his robe pocket. He'd deal with his winnings later. Much, much later. He rolled onto his back, not until then noticing the latter lying on his bedside table. It bore his name in a familiar handwriting, and suddenly wide awake he ripped it open to see what L. had written.

 _Severus,_

 _I do not appreciate being played for a fool when I have_

 _invested so much_ _into the hope of catching your attention._ _If you_

 _wanted Black, you had plenty of opportunities to let me_ _know so._

 _For I have sworn thee fair,_

 _and thought thee bright,_

 _Who art as black as hell,_

 _as dark as night._

 _However, something within me - I like to think it is my heart,_

 _but it might just as well be my wounded pride - is still hoping_

 _that_ _what I hear about you and him are only rumours. That there_

 _is still a chance for me. If there is, attend classes tomorrow wearing_

 _the_ _enclosed band in your hair. It will let me know that I am_

 _still a contender for your hand._

 _~ L._

Severus, who had felt as if his heart had decided to stop beating about halfway through the letter, drew a deep breath of pure relief. L was still interested in courting him, even though there were wild rumours about him and Sirius floating around and making life difficult for everyone. He distractedly stroked the dark blue silk band that L had sent, the silk smooth and cool like rainwater. He pledged to himself that he would wear it tomorrow, instead of the braids he usually stole from Lily. Once more, Severus vowed that he was going to figure out why the mysterious L was. It was embarrassing, he thought as his eyes slid shut on their own volition, that he had received five courting gifts and still didn't know who had sent them.


	5. Chapter 5

Lily looked curiously at the item in her friend's hair, but since they were heading into potions class she wisely chose not to comment until later. Unfortunately, Caltha Parkinson had no such qualms and the first thing she did once she got into the classroom was screech,

"By Merlin! Snape has _accepted a suitor!_ " During the chaos her utterance caused, Lily took the chance to take a closer look at the dark blue ribbon holding Severus' hair away from his face. If she tilted her head just so, she could make out letters embroidered in a blue colour only a tone or two lighter than the silk. An L and an S, entwined so as to almost form a new letter. It was beautiful and, judging from the fine hand that hade made it, in all likelihood very expensive.

The whispering and wild speculations from their classmates didn't seem to be of any notice to Severus, who merely looked over the day's assigned reading with an air of boredom. Feeling very much the ignorant muggle born she was working so hard not to be, Lily decided that she was going to ask Caltha after class how she had known. She would have preferred to ask Severus, but his knowledge of the wizarding world was on the same level as her own so he probably wouldn't know, either.

"So" Lily said as she and Severus sat on the bench they usually sat on when the weather permitted and looked out over the lake, "You've decided to make it official that L holds your favour."

"Yes" Severus said distractedly, a hand slipping up to finger at the band that had caused a ruckus most of the day.

"Have you figured out who he is, yet?"

"No. But… I am starting to suspect." Lily raised an eyebrow.

"Oh? Who?" It didn't seem as if Severus had heard her.

"Sirius told me that his mother mentioned in her latest letter that she had met _him_ in Diagon Alley, purchasing a very rare book on South American herbs." Lily pondered if it was worth the effort to smack him about the head with her scarf, but decided she'd rather keep wearing it.

"A name would be nice" she said acerbically and Severus blinked at her as if he had momentarily forgotten that she was there.

"Oh. Uhm." He flushed, "Lucius Malfoy." Lily goggled at him.

"Lucius Malfoy?" she squeaked once she'd gotten her vocal cords to stop tying themselves into knots from the shock. "Are you out of your _bleeding mind_?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Only that you are expecting me to think that the most sought after alpha in _all of Wizarding Britain_ is sending you courting gifts. And writing _love letters!"_ Severus flushed again, this time from anger rather than embarrassment.

"And why wouldn't he? Am I not good enough for him?" Lily backtracked as fast as she could without tripping over her feet.

"I didn't mean it like that! I just… how'd you even _meet_ him?" Severus bit his lip.

"Promise not to tell anyone." he lowered his voice and Lily leaned forward to hear what he had to say.

"I promise" she vowed solemnly.

"I tutored him for his potions NEWTs." Lily had thought she was flabbergasted before, but she had been wrong. Now she was _really_ flabbergasted. Her vocal cords didn't even bother with the knots, they went into full lockdown and she was left gaping at Severus like a fish that can't believe the audacity of the fisherman that's just pulled him out of the ocean. In Severus' opinion, she rather looked like a fish, too.

Waiting for Lily to be done reeling, he pulled out the latest letter plus an old note that he for some unfathomable reason (that he refused to examine any closer, thank you very much) had kept from his pocket. It took Lily a while, but she finally managed to make a noise vaguely resembling the noise that fisherman would probably have made when his catch expressed its abhorrence at his lack of manners. Once she had, he showed her both the letter and the note.

"Pretty similar, don't you think?" he asked. Lily looked at the writing on both papers.

"I can't see the difference" she croaked, ignoring her vocal chords' vehement protestations at being made to work.

Severus nodded slowly.

"I was hoping you'd say that. So I'd stop wondering if I was imagining things."

"You're not" Lily said, feeling rather lightheaded.

"What are you going to do?" Lily asked eventually, once the world had stopped spinning like a remembrall when you've spent ten minutes trying to figure out what you've forgotten and it thinks you must be the dimmest dimwit to ever graze good old England.

Severus reluctantly lowered his book - _Pampas Galore: useful herbs from South America and tips on where to find them_ \- and looked at her as if she'd just said something stupid enough to be a direct quote from Gilderoy Lockhart.

"Do? Why my dear Lily" he turned back to the book, "I am going to marry him."

* * *

Lucius locked both locks on the door and carefully checked the room for any possible listening or recording devices. One confident that he was in fact completely unseen and unheard, he allowed himself to give in to the urge that he'd had most of the afternoon. He whooped and hollered with excitement, completely beside himself with joy. His source at Hogwarts had just informed him that Severus not only knew who he was, but intended to marry him! Ha, take that aunt Walburga! Now he knew once and for all who was the better cousin, him or that twat Sirius! Severus wanted him, Lucius, for his mate! Noticing that the whooping and hollering had not helped at all with calming his giddiness, he proceeded with dancing a little jig from pure glee. Severus wanted him!

Now he just had to figure out the perfect way of presenting himself to him. He stood thinking for a moment, now and then shuffling his feet a bit as if he was trying out a new dance, when he had a flash of inspiration. With a mad dash for his study, he hurried to make the arrangements. He felt very, very lucky that no one could see the way he was acting at the present.

If this got back to mother before the engagement was official, he'd never hear the end of it.

* * *

Severus should probably have been used to being accosted by Sirius Black at the most inopportune moments and locations, but he still made a pretty good attempt at the world record of standing height when said boy grabbed his arm and yanked him into an alcove.

"What the- Sirius! I'm going to be late for class!" Sirius, however, ignored his protests. He was wont to do that.

"Is it true that you are engaged to Lucius Malfoy?" He demanded instead. Severus rolled his eyes. The rumour mill hadn't been slow of the mark this time either.

"Not officially" he said diplomatically, hoping to avoid another scene like the one earlier, when some seventh year ravenclaw whose name he couldn't be bothered to remember had decreed to all and sundry that Severus was making the mistake of his life for not choosing him instead. And then there had been the girls demanding to know how he caught the attention of the illustrious Lucius Malfoy.

"Not… officially?" Sirius spluttered indignantly and Severus braced himself for an eruption on the scale of Mt Vesuvius right before it made life very complicated for the people of Pompeii.

"Are you telling me that he has been courting you unofficially? That bastard! I am going to make him eat his wand! How dares he disrespect you this way!" Sirius ranted and Severus felt a bit like the king of Troy being told that the greeks had taken a wrong turn and would he mind waiting to be invaded for a month or two?

"Sirius" he tried half-heartedly, "calm down." Why he expected Sirius to listen to him this time when he never had before was beyond him, but hope is the last to abandon the sinking ship.

"It's unofficial because I haven't accepted his suit yet." He explained when it looked like Sirius was about to go into a conniption. He got enough of that at home, thank you very much. However, his comment seemed to work and Sirius made an obvious effort to stop frothing at the mouth.

"Make sure he treats you well" was his final verdict, "or I will made in eat his wand. Sideways." As interesting as it would be to see that in practice, Severus patted Sirius consolingly on the arm.

"I will, alright?" Sirius seemed to calm down somewhat from the pats, but still looked like he was about to murder someone from the sheer joy of it. Sighing, Severus decided that all saints had to sacrifice something and tilted his head to the side.

"Hug me?" He asked plaintively, expecting it to get the desired reaction. With a noise that sounded like pure distress, Sirius threw his arms around him and buried his face in the crook of Severus' neck. Severus sighed. He was so, so late for Herbology.


	6. Chapter 6

The first properly official meeting between Severus and the not-so-mysterious-anymore-L took place the following Saturday in Hogsmeade. Right outside the gate to the short path leading up to the cottage known as the shrieking shack, actually. Lucius stared dumbstruck at Severus, who approached wearing a dark red sweater that made his eyes glow like well-polished pieces of onyx. His trousers were a deep charcoal grey, perfectly fitted around his hips and thighs. The mere sight of him was enough for Lucius to thank his lucky stars he'd chosen to wear black corduroy pants that were a bit loose in the groin.

Then he caught a whiff of the scent of unmated, blossoming omega and not even slight looseness in the groin area could hide his reaction. He quickly moved the picnic basket from his side to directly in front of him, but the way that Severus smirked made it clear that he had not done so fast enough.

"So" Severus drawled in amusement, "you're L."

"Yes" Lucius stammered, wanting nothing than to bury his face in Severus neck and just breathe him in. Wanted to get drunk on his delicious, overpowering scent, breathe it into every little bit of his lungs. Then taste him all over, to see how his taste matched his scent. Wanted to bury his face - and his cock - between Severus' amazing legs, knot him and breed him and fill him up with his seed. They would have such beautiful babies...

Cheeks burning, hands shaking, Lucius offered his arm to the captivating youth. Severus took it, still looking amused, and followed him a ways to the small field full of wildflowers that Lucius had chosen as the perfect spot for their lunch. To see Severus sprawled out amongst the flowers on the blanket they had spread, was the most intoxicating sight he had ever seen in his life. He was stunning, irresistible. He was _his._

Severus looked at Lucius with keen interest; Lucius was stunningly handsome, filthy rich, well read, and most definitely not stupid. His tongue-tied state at the present was most likely due to the clothes Sirius had lent him (after Lily washed and descented them thoroughly), or it could be his scent. He wasn't sure what was in the pie he was eating, but it tasted delicious and flakes of the buttery pastry insisted on ending up on his shirt, leading to a surprisingly daring Lucius removing them. With his mouth. After that, there wasn't much of a leap to kissing.

That was when he knew that he was making the right choice; the moment Lucius' lips touched his there was a resonance deep, deep within him.

"Alpha!" he cried breathlessly, winding his arms around Lucius' neck. The older man's eyes darkened until they were the deep, stormy blue of the night sky.

"Omega" he growled, pushing Severus down onto his back, biting his neck. Severus moaned in both submission and desire, and from there the world was a whirlwind of Lucius; his scent, his touch, his taste, his hair, his mouth, his hands… his knot.

"Breed me" Severus keened as he dug his heels into Lucius' back, "Oh God, Luc, give me a baby!"

"You're too young" Lucius sobbed into his neck, clinging to him as if afraid that he'd vanish like the memory of a dream when you start in on breakfast. They clung to each other, screaming and sobbing as the spring sun shone benevolently down on their shuddering bodies as they found themselves hurtling headfirst into blinding ecstasy.

In that moment, nothing else existed but the two of them.

* * *

Severus was rather rumpled, quite sore and more than a little starry eyed when he kissed Lucius good-night at the grand gates of Hogwarts just before sunset. He felt relieved that he was still on birth control, but at the same time longed for the babies he would have with Lucius as soon as he graduated. Lucius. His alpha. He beamed as he returned to the dorms, and no one who saw him could deny that at that moment in time he was pretty in the way that ugly boys are when they are very, very happy.

Lucius stood at the entrance, watching with adoring eyes as his omega - goodness, Severus was his omega now, with a mark on his neck and a belly full of seed... and he really had to hurry home before anyone saw his happy jig.

"Malfoy" a female voice behind him stopped him cold. There was pure ice in that tone and he turned very slowly, reaching for his wand in the same motion.

He was faced by a red haired girl in her teens, arms crossed, leveling him with a glare that made him feel like he wanted to throw himself at her feet and plead forgiveness for everything he had ever done wrong in his life.

"We would like a word" his annoying little do-gooder cousin added, as he came into view. Both teens stood side by side, glaring at him. He'd never admit it, but it made him feel rather terrified.

"What do you want?" he replied haughtily as he drew himself up tall, desperately scanning for a good escape route.

There wasn't one.

"If you're half as sharp as you like to think you are" Sirius said coldly, "you've probably figured out by now that I am Severus' platonic alpha. Basically, I'm his big brother with sharp teeth. I want nothing more than for Severus to be happy, since the last time an idiot classmate of ours decided that an unbonded omega was easy pickings for a horny alpha I put that asshole in the healing wing for a week."

"It's true" Lily said, "he had to drink five doses of skele-grow and have two brain scans." Lucius started to tremble.

"So imagine if you, whom he actually gives a damn about, hurt or upset him in anyway." Sirius said and smiled so wide all his teeth showed. It made cold sweat break out all over Lucius' back. Oh, he could imagine, alright. Sirius was a Black, after all. And worse than being a Black; he was the son of aunt Walburga. If Sirius decided that he needed straightening out, there wouldn't be anything left of him that could be identified.

"Well?" Sirius asked expectantly, still smiling.

"I- I understand" Lucius stuttered.

"Wonderful. Glad we had this chat. Lily, you have anything to say to Lucius?" the girl fixed him with those creepy green eyes again.

"Severus means a lot to me" she began, sounding about as calm as the Mariana Trench. He did not want to know what sort of fishes swam beneath that pristine surface. "He is my best friend, and his happiness is very important to me, as I am sure you understand." Lucius nodded slowly, not daring to look away from her face.

"So, rest assured that if you hurt my Sev in any way, I will find out. I will know, I will get cross, and I will hurt you." She smiled almost as wide as Sirius had.

"I also want you to be aware that I have this" she held up what looked like a rather plain shovel. "And once I am done hurting you, I will take this shovel, beat your brains in with it and then use it to dig your grave. In a location where you will never be found. And I have an alibi. Do you understand?"

Lucius nodded slowly. Forget escape routes, he was keeping these two where he could keep an eye on them!

"I understand" he said nervously.

That's when the really creepy thing happened. The girl - Lily - transformed before his very eyes. Squealing with happiness, she threw her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek.

"Congratulations on your mating!" she cried, "I am so happy for you!"

Sirius smiled and shook his hand.

"Congratulations, cousin." he said.

Lucius tried his best to smile back, but he didn't have much success. These two kids were mad. Completely mad! Could he change his mind now and emigrate to Fiji? But then he thought of Severus, beautiful Severus who was his and whom he was going to marry and have children with and - and he smiled at Sirius and Lily. They loved Severus almost as much as Lucius did.

"Thank you" he said, smiling.

* * *

"What if they don't like me?" Lucius asked as he fixed his hair for the tenth time that morning. Severus rolled his eyes at him in fond exasperation.

"My father never approves of anything" he said reasonably, "And all my mother wants is for me to be happy. You're going to be fine." He adjusted Lucius' tie - a nod at Severus' parentage - one last time, then stepped up and rang the doorbell of the little house he had grown up in. There was a moment of silence in which he distinctly heard Lucius swallow hard, then Eileen Snape opened the door.

"Severus!" she cried in obvious delight and hugged her son.

"Hi, mom." Severus said in a muffled tone somewhere in her shirt.

"Oh, hello there!" she said as she saw Lucius, looking for escape routes while trying desperately not to look like he was looking for escape routes. "Who is this young man, Severus?

"Mum, this is L, who I told you about. His name is Lucius. He has something very important to ask of you and father."

Tobias Snape, who had apparently overheard the exchange, came up beside his wife in the doorway. He looked at Lucius measuringly and Lucius got the distinct impression that Mr Snape Sr was not at all impressed with what he saw.

"Before we take this any further" Tobias said in a frighteningly calm tone, "I would like to make clear that I have a shovel."

"And I" Eileen said as she smiled dazzlingly, "can provide him with an alibi."

Lucius whimpered softly.


End file.
